Does Ireland do enough to support SMEs?

Three Chartered Accountants consider the Government support on offer to SMEs in the North and south and the wider environment for entrepreneurship on the island of Ireland

Shaun McGlade

Managing Director
SMCG Ltd

Homegrown businesses in Ireland, North and south, face a myriad of challenges. These include geopolitical, environmental and economic uncertainties in addition to the impact of digital disruption, skills shortages and the evolving needs of the workforce – and all while they continue to grapple with inflationary pressures. 

Government-backed organisations such as Invest Northern Ireland and Enterprise Ireland provide valuable support to businesses, with a focus on export-oriented companies and high-potential start-ups, both of which are seen as vehicles to boost the economy of the island of Ireland.

Businesses across Ireland have been navigating the post-Brexit landscape, while businesses in Northern Ireland are also dealing with challenges and opportunities presented by the Northern Ireland Protocol – now the Windsor Framework – which provides access to both the British and EU markets. 

This represents a significant opportunity for businesses in Northern Ireland, but it also introduces complexity and uncertainty in completing transactions across borders. 

One key strand of Government support for businesses in Northern Ireland has been the establishment of the Trader Support Service. This is aimed at helping companies to contend with changes in the way goods move under the Windsor Framework. 

Thousands of businesses have registered with the free-to-use platform since its launch in 2020. This service is due to end after December 2024, however, and this is something the recently restored Northern Ireland Executive must lobby the British Government to retain so that businesses in Northern Ireland can continue to avail of it beyond the end of the year.

As a relatively small practice, we at SMCG Ltd have found that the professional network built over time with colleagues in the profession, along with professionals in other industries, has been a source of great support. 

This is reflective of the ethos and culture prevalent in Irish society down through the generations to “help your neighbour” even though they may also be a competitor. 

It is even more imperative, therefore, that the governments in the North and south proactively address the challenges facing our community of SMEs on the island of Ireland. 

This requires a strategic approach, avoiding reactionary politics, and fostering an environment that encourages business investment and provides critical infrastructure for homegrown businesses to flourish.

Susan HayesCulleton

Managing Director
The HayesCulleton Group

Our company started in September 2010 and in the years since, I believe Ireland has steadily improved as a place to do business.

The entrepreneurial ecosystem has become far more inclusive. In the past, the broad supports offered by the Local Enterprise Offices (LEOs) were tailored towards internationally traded services and manufacturing, but this has changed drastically. 

The Local Enterprise Offices Policy Statement 2024–2030, released in May, stated that the LEOs would have an increased capital budget of €44.8 million in 2024 available to 37,000 businesses, excluding those supported by IDA, Enterprise Ireland and Udarás na Gaeltachta.

Further, we are now seeing far more trade missions, funded initiatives for environmental and social sustainability, and opportunities to build relationships across borders. 

At the time of writing, Enterprise Europe Network has 5,659 available partnering opportunities, enabling us to partner with distributors and procure goods from around the world. 

InterTradeIreland has a target to help 10,000 businesses every year with comprehensive online cross-border trade information. The expanding diplomatic footprint of the Department of Foreign Affairs – with 57 Embassies and 108 Consulates – also offers a landing pad for Irish businesses that want to export.

While Ireland is perhaps better known for accommodating foreign direct investment, I think the ecosystem for homegrown businesses here is hugely supportive.

Enterprise Ireland does a fantastic job in the provision of seed investment, advice and – in my experience – has a passionate team of people at home and abroad who take as much pleasure in seeing homegrown businesses win in international markets, as the business founders themselves. 

At HayesCulleton, we have encountered some wonderful people and they have led us to engagement opportunities that have resulted in new business for our firm. If I were to make one change, however, it would be to making it easier to navigate the SME support system in Ireland. 

Kealan Lennon

Chief Executive
CleverCards

Ireland has tax incentives to drive investment in research and development and well-educated talent coming out of our universities and colleges.     

The big challenge for homegrown business support in Ireland is not at the early seed stage, however, but at the scaling stage – particularly for ambitious founders with a global vision. 

The number one challenge for businesses scaling up is access to capital. The Government and Enterprise Ireland have funded several venture capital funds in Ireland to deploy investment at the seed and Series A stages. There is a complete gap from the Series B stage and onwards, however, and this has been the case for years. 

Bridging this gap, in my view, would be the difference between scaling companies “exiting” through acquisition by international players (in the absence of capital to scale further) and continuing further along the journey themselves to build global businesses that are “homegrown” in Ireland. 

CleverCards has developed a digital payments platform that enables businesses and public sector organisations to configure digital Mastercard accounts themselves. 

By serving many multinational companies headquartered in Ireland, the US is our nearest market to the west while Britain and the European Union represent a huge market to the east. 

So, our experience is that Ireland is a great place from which to scale internationally. However, early-stage growth and expansion requires risk capital to bridge the gap where later-stage private equity and debt markets are more readily available.